Vivita Philippines and Vivistop Baguio are heading to Tabuk City on Saturday, March 21, 2026 for a Repair Café at Bites and Bingsu Cafe and Restaurant, Estrañero St. Purok 1, Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga. The event runs from 2:00 to 6:00 PM and is open to students, entrepreneurs, and anyone with a broken item they'd rather fix than throw away.

The event also doubles as an introduction to Circle Works — a Cordillera program that funds and supports solutions for a future beyond plastic, implemented through a partnership backed by the European Union's Global Gateway initiative.

What Happens at a Repair Café

A Repair Café is exactly what it sounds like: a community gathering where people bring broken or worn items — clothing, accessories, electronics, furniture, household objects — and work with volunteer repairers to fix them on the spot. There are no registration fees, no formal presentations, and no pitch decks. It's a practical, hands-on event built around the simple idea that most things are worth repairing before they become waste.

Participants can bring items they want to mend, revive, or rework. Those with repair skills — sewing, electronics, woodworking, general fixing — can volunteer their time and expertise. The format creates an organic community space where knowledge is shared, waste is reduced, and people see firsthand that the circular economy is less of an abstract concept and more of a daily practice.

What Circle Works Is

Circle Works is a Cordillera-focused program that funds and supports enterprises and individuals developing solutions for a future beyond plastic. It operates under the EU Global Gateway framework and is implemented by GIZ, Expertise France, GGGI, and IFC, in cooperation with VIVITA. The program is also supported by DILG and DTI.

For founders, students, and community innovators in the Cordillera working on circular economy solutions — waste reduction, sustainable materials, upcycling, repair-based businesses — Circle Works is a direct funding and support pathway worth knowing about. The Repair Café in Tabuk is an accessible first touchpoint: come to fix something, stay to learn what the program can do for your idea.

Why Tabuk, Why Now

Taking this kind of event to Tabuk City rather than keeping it in Baguio is a deliberate choice that reflects where the circular economy conversation in the Cordillera needs to go. Kalinga's communities have deep traditions of resourcefulness and material reuse — practices that predate any program or policy framework. Circle Works showing up in Tabuk signals that the program is looking for partners and innovators beyond the urban center, which is where much of the region's most grounded circular economy potential actually lives.

For young people in Kalinga with ideas about waste, materials, or sustainable products, this event is one of the lowest-barrier entry points into a funded regional program available right now. Bring something broken. Leave with something fixed — and a clearer picture of what's possible.

The Repair Café is on Saturday, March 21 from 2:00 to 6:00 PM at Bites and Bingsu Cafe and Restaurant, Estrañero St. Purok 1, Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga. Follow Vivita Philippines and Vivistop Baguio for updates.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BwuKhMM28/